Pay Up
by Celeste.J.Evans
Summary: One-Shot about Kate and Rick and the bet regarding their relationship. A sad, sweet little thing just for you.


**Wow, two posts in one night, I am on fire! Anyways, this is a little one-shot that's been stewing in my mind for the last few days. It suddenly struck me that Montgomery would never be there to see Castle and Beckett get together and that seemed so sad to me that I felt the need to write about it. So this is sad and kind of sweet but mostly I just felt the need to write this down and get that little sad thought out of my head. As I said, this is a little fic. It's rather short but that's all that needed to be written. Anyways, that's all I have to say about this little late-night ditty. **

***Update* Alright, I re-read this story and fixed some of the errors though I'm sure I missed something. Please don't hold it against me; I'm only human :)**

**Please review and as always, you can follow me on twitter at **vatrask

**Enjoy 3**

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><p>Rick held her hand as they walked through the lush green grass. She still had on her wedding gown and he his tux but neither of them cared. As they approached their destination, he squeezed her hand, compelling her to face him. "Are you sure about this?" She squeezed his hand back, staring into his eyes with love and determination, glassed over with tears.<p>

"I'm sure." She nodded before tugging his hand behind her so he was following her as he'd always done. As they continued to tread through the grass, he kissed her ear causing her to duck her head to hide her shy smile.

"When did you know?" She didn't need to ask what he meant.

"About a month after we met."

He laughed, his breath tickling her neck, intertwining with the mid-summer wind and sending secret shivers down her spine. "That soon?"

"You didn't know back then?"

"Nope, I didn't figure it out until after that photo shoot when you let me back in."

She hummed in response, not hiding her smile. "Best decision I ever made."

She gasped as he brought their clasped hands around her stomach and tugged her to him. "No, my dear detective, the best decision you ever made was saying 'yes'." She leaned her head back into the crook of his neck to kiss him.

"Hmm, yeah that was pretty good too." Before their kiss could become anything more than sweet she pushed forward propelling them the last few feet. "Come on, we have to get to the reception." He fell into her back when she paused in front of the tombstone and both of them fell into silence. Finally remembering to breathe, Kate reached out to caress the top of the stone with soft, gentle hands. "Hey Captain." She whispered so only Rick and the wind could hear her. Rick held her shoulders as she spoke to her –their- old friend. "We just wanted to stop by and say 'hi'. I know you would have wanted to be there today; it was a beautiful ceremony-"

"Only because she let me pay." Kate closed her eyes to laugh, hoping to expel any tears that may have formed knowing that Rick was so understanding of her need to do this.

"I swear Captain, he hasn't changed at all."

"Well that's a lie." He spoke to Roy. "I've changed so much because of this woman it's absolutely insane."

"You mean _you're_ absolutely insane." She teased back, enjoying how comfortable this rather strange situation felt.

"Insanely in love maybe." She swatted his arm but kept her fingers on his, soothing away the sting.

"Rick," she half scolded before returning to her Captain "sorry Captain; I guess not everything has changed." And then a thick silence fell over them as they listened to the summer wind dance around them, flashing them both back to that horrible day when they had almost lost it all. Closing her eyes, Kate sighed, expelling the last of her negative thoughts before turning her head to look at her husband. "Rick, do you have the envelope?" Without speaking, Rick reached into his pants pocket and produced a worn white envelope which he handed to his wife carefully. Caressing the envelope, Kate clutched it tightly in her hands before presenting it to Captain Montgomery. "This is for you, sir. It's the money you won on the 'relationship bet' about Castle and I." She shook her head, suddenly overcome with sadness. "You knew," she stated, her voice raw enough that Rick tightened his hold on her shoulders to steady her "from the very beginning you knew that we'd be together forever on this day at this time; with or without you." She could hear Rick sniffle once but wouldn't hold it against him as the tears flowed down her cheeks. After a moment to gather her strength she whispered, stroking her husband's hand with her thumb. "I owe you everything." He squeezed her shoulder as though to second the statement. "So I just wanted to say 'thank you' for bringing love back into my life and for teaching me how to be a better person. I'm where I am today because of you." She lowered the envelope until it drooped at her side, taking a deep breath of courage. "So, we're giving this bet money to your family; it's theirs." With that, Kate was so overcome with emotion that she could no longer speak. Her shoulders shook with her heavy sobs and so her husband took over.

"We just thought you should know that you won the bet; you were right all along." He spoke now in his own name. "Everything I have today I owe to you and so I am more than happy to put a little more bet money in their on behalf of Kate and I." He squeezed her shoulder as she continued to sob at her friend's grave. "We didn't even get the date right. I thought it would be later-"

"and I thought it'd be sooner." She breathed in admission, slowly regaining her composure. With a long, deep breath, Kate removed her hand from her shoulder to stroke the headstone one last time.

"Goodbye Captain." She whispered into the wind as Rick's hand came to her waist, slowly leading her away from Captain Montgomery. As they left the cemetery, Rick turned to look back at the grave on the hill, shining in the sunlight.

"Thank you." He mouthed for only Roy.


End file.
